There’s no need to say that Apple has a massive global fan-following for all of its products, especially the iPhone. People all around the world wait in anticipation every year for a new iPhone. So when an iPhone launch can stir up so much excitement, just imagine the intensity of disappointment among fans that will happen if Apple canceled a new iPhone launch. Yes, there are rumors that Apple is going to cancel the launch of a new iPhone next year.

But don’t worry yet, as it’s not the iPhone 8. Of course, Apple can’t cancel that at any costs, not when it’s the iPhone’s 10-year anniversary. Instead, Apple has decided to cut the iPhone SE out of its update line. This news comes straight from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is regarded as the best Apple analyst in the world. Kuo has reportedly said that Apple has decided not to upgrade the iPhone SE in 2017.

iPhone 8 Concept

Kuo’s research note reveals that Apple will not release a 2017 update for the iPhone SE. The 4-inch smartphone was a surprise hit of the year, both commercially and critically, which is why it’s odd to hear that it won’t be getting an update next year. Of course, Apple wouldn’t have come to this decision if they did not see a profitable outcome. Kuo explained that Apple does not want a new budget iPhone to get all the attention, which would result in the more profitable iPhone 7 selling lesser. Also, the older components in the 2016 iPhone SE will get cheaper by next year, which will increase Apple’s profit margins on the device.

The reasons behind the 2017 iPhone SE cancellation do make sense on a business level when talking about profits. It is clear that the iPhone SE is as powerful as 6s, and its design has a huge cult following. So the iPhone 7 would definitely face competition from the SE in the market if the budget 4-incher got a new update.Of course, the iPhone SE 2017 cancellation will definitely affect raw sales figures, as pointed out by Kuo.

Of course, the iPhone SE 2017 cancellation will definitely affect raw sales figures, as pointed out by Kuo. He predicts that the sales will drop by at least 10% in Q2 of 2017, and the figures will be around 35M. That would be a drop from the 40M seen in Q2 of 2016. The iPhone SE, as Kuo said, definitely resulted in a lot of profits for Apple in this year’s second quarter as the 4-inch iPhone was highly in demand then.

Skipping upgrades is not new for Apple; the company has skipped generations of iPad and also left the MacBook Pro un-updated for many years. Yes, we could argue that the iPhone SE is a great phone, both for the company and the consumers. Also, without an update in the mid-range section of the market, Apple could be missing out on a huge chunk of market share. But we’ll have to wait for the next year to see how it turns out for the Cupertino giant.

The last question, is this news genuine? Well, if you like to follow Apple-related news, you would not ask this question. Analyst Kuo gets almost each of his Apple predictions right, so he’s most probably right about the iPhone SE 2017 cancellation news. Though most Apple fans would love if Kuo gets this one wrong.

So what do you think? Has Apple made a wrong decision this time? Comment below.